Most of the career advice we dole out at AskMen is geared toward those looking to either advance their careers or land their first real-world job out of school. What often gets left out of the conversation is advice for those who have been laid off, let go or kicked out.

I was released from my day job this past Friday. I was employed for over a year as a Human Capital Consultant to the federal government, which is exactly as sexy and exotic as it sounds. Unfortunately, the nature of government contracting is such that as we approach the end of the government’s fiscal year, firms are forced to take stock of what budgets their clients were allotted and which contracts will be renewed. When I noticed some of my colleagues making unexplained departures, I knew the writing was on the wall for me as well. C’est la vie.

As a man, particularly one who’s getting married in about a month, losing your job is one of the most psychologically damning things that can happen. It’s not so much being idle, because enterprising individuals can and do find plenty of constructive things to make the time go by. It’s much deeper than that. While life is filled with rejection (college applications, women, sports tryouts), there’s nothing quite like having an employer tell you to your face that whatever the circumstances were, you just weren’t worth keeping. Sure, in some instances, mass layoffs occur and almost no one is safe, but in others it’s more like, “You’re OK, but we had to trim the fat and unfortunately you didn’t make the cut.” It doesn’t even matter how they deliver the news, and, in fact, you wish they’d do it in a less solemn way. In emotional situations like that, you almost want an excuse to get mad, to have a reason to tell them to f*ck off after delivering some scathing quips about how you were tired of working with the apes they call employees anyway. But you can’t.

Even more irritating is the way your friends and loved ones act, because the truth is they aren’t sure how to act. Even being asked about it just causes you to bristle up, and I liken talking about it to the way movie stars are forced to go on a press tour for a movie that everyone knows is a steaming pile of sh*t. They smile, they talk about how it was a great role, but when you see the interview, you know they’d rather be doing anything else. That’s what it’s like to talk to someone who’s unemployed about their unemployment, which is probably why you don’t see many articles written about it: No one really feels like writing about it while they’re in the middle of it.

Hell, I hardly want to write this, but it’s a lot easier for me to be honest with myself and others through writing than it is through talking about it. Oh, and if you have some teeth you need removed, by all means ask an unemployed person about their job hunting activities and how they’re spending their time. It’s the No. 1 way to get some free cosmetic dental work.

But with all that said, I’m OK with the change, and you know why? Because I have a plan. The same thing happened to me a few years ago at a different firm, and through that experience I learned both how and how not to deal with the emotional and logistical hardship of being handed a pink slip. Read on for a so-good-I-should-charge-money-for-it blueprint on how to get yourself off the dole in no time.

Allow yourself time to process

So you’ve been kicked to the curb. The reasons why don’t matter right now. What does matter is giving yourself a little “me” time to let everything marinate in your head. If instead you were to dive head-first into the job search, you’d likely be running around like a headless chicken, desperate and without direction. Don’t do that.

Most pink slips are handed out on Fridays, because the weekend makes it less likely that the employee will return to cause some kind of disruption. In addition to taking the weekend, I advise taking the following Monday and Tuesday to relax and recharge. What you do during that time is up to you, as long as it’s not related to job hunting or worrying about your situation. Treat the time like a little vacation, and use it to do things that being at work normally wouldn’t allow. Maybe take on a small home-improvement project. Of course it’s never advisable to drink to excess, but if that’s how you want to grieve, then this is the time to tie one on.